Posts Categorized: Devotionals

On Sunday we finished up our series on the book of Job, and our larger series on 2 of the wisdom books in the Old Testament. We ended our study of Job by looking at how James spoke of Job in James 5.11. In this passage Job is praised for his patient endurance in trials, and God’s purpose, mercy, and compassion are highlighted. We learned that enduring in trials is about growing and being changed, not just buckling down and staying the same. God, in His mercy and compassion, is making us more like His Son even though this often involves pain in our lives.

On Sunday we looked at God’s second speech to Job where the Lord questions Job about his ability (or lack thereof) to judge evil in the world. In order to illustrate His point, the Lord highlights two aquatic creatures: behemoth and leviathan. These are somewhat mysterious creatures whose descriptions are very difficult to match up with one or two specific animals. We saw that the Old Testament uses Leviathan especially as an image for the power of evil and pride at work in the world. The prophet Isaiah even promised that God would destroy Leviathan one day. God uses these terrifying creatures to show Job that the Lord is sovereign even as evil rages in the world. As Christians we see this even more clearly as we look at how God worked through the events surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We may not have all of our philosophical questions answered about evil, but we can trust in our sovereign God who rules and reigns supreme, and will one day put down evil for good.

This last Sunday we began to look at how God finally addressed Job. Job has been questioning God throughout the book, but now God questions Job. He asks Job such questions as, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” God is showing Job that he does not even know all the mysteries of God’s creation on earth, much less the mysteries of God’s sovereign plan in the heavens. Job is being humbled by God in a powerful way as he silences himself before God. In all of this, we learned that suffering has a unique ability to remind us that we are not God, and that his ways are not our ways. We also learned that even though the Bible invites us to cry out to God and lament to God, we also need to be silent before the Lord, and hear His Word.

Even when we suffer innocently, God still uses trials to teach us as we learn to be more like Jesus Christ. This is the message that Job’s fourth friend, Elihu, brings to Job. Elihu brings some wisdom to Job in the midst of his suffering as Job is prepared to hear from God Himself very soon. Elihu does not try to convince Job that he is suffering because he sinned, but he does try to show Job that in the midst of his suffering God can teach him. May we all have the humility to learn as God uses trials in our lives.

Where can we find wisdom in the midst of suffering? That is one of the main questions in the book of Job. The three friends of Job have offered their own version of “wisdom”, but they are not speaking truth. As we near the end of Job’s responses to his friends, we are given this poem about where to find wisdom in this world. We saw that wisdom cannot be found on the earth, nor can it be financed with riches, but it can be received as we fear the Lord. God gives wisdom through His Word.